Terrorists cannot silence voice of journalists: minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcating Pervaiz Rasheed on Monday said that terrorists cannot silence the voice of the journalists and stop the government from rooting out the menace of terrorism from the country.

He stated this while addressing the participants of a protest march organised here by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), National Press Club (NPC) and Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) to condemn the cowardly attack on the office of a private news channel in Faisalabad.

“All the state institutions put in their best efforts to make Zarb-e-Azb a success and it needs no mention that the media has been playing a vital role in the war against extremism and terrorism in the country. Now the terrorists are on the run and they are finding no place to hide due to which they are attacking innocent citizens of Pakistan,” he said.

The minister said the people of Pakistan have showed their strong opposition to the terrorists and their ideology and now the nation is united to support ongoing Zarb-e-Azb till elimination of last terrorist from the country.

He mentioned the sacrifices so far rendered by the journalists in war against terrorism and maintained that the people of Pakistan would never forget the services of the media persons who are being targeted but never ready to stop their professional work. PFUJ President Afzal Butt said the recent killing of a senior journalist Hafeezur Rehman in Kohat and terrorist attack on the office of a private television channel in Faisalabad clearly show why Pakistan has been declared the most dangerous country for the journalists.

“I regret to mention here that when National Action Plan was announced the incumbent government promised to provide security to the media houses but no step has so far been taken in this respect. The journalists are being targeted by the terrorists and the government is doing nothing to provide them security,” he said.

He said: “Those who think that they would mute the voice of the media through terrorist acts would bite the dust because the journalists never ever bowed down even before the military dictators and continued their work against all odds.”

RIUJ president Ali Raza Alvi said the government must take effective measures to provide foolproof security to the media houses, adding “The journalists sacrifice their lives in war against terrorism but the government never arrest their murderers due to which the number of terrorist acts against them is increasing day by day.”

RIUJ general secretary Bilal Dar said the journalists, people and all state institutions have been rendering sacrifices in ongoing war against terrorism and coward attacks on media houses showed that the terrorists are getting frustrated with each passing day.